Adjustable positioning and supporting device



April 19, 1960 G. A. FIRESTONE ETAL 2,933,198

ADJUSTABLE POSITIONING AND SUPPORTING DEVICE Filed NOV. 27, 1956 IN V ENT 'UR. Gus-TA v5 fl. HI'PESTONE BY R/cH/YRDJ/PUSCH.

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Unite States atet ADJUSTABLE POSITIONING AND SUPPORTING DEVICE GustaveA. Firestone, West Hartford, and Richard J. Rusch, New Britain, Conn.,assignors to The United Tool & Die Company, West Hartford, Coma, acorporation of Connecticut Application November 27, 1956, Serial No.624,606

1 Claim. (Cl. 212-128) This invention relates to an adjustablepositioning and supporting device and more particularly to a device forsupporting and adjustably positioning X-ray and photographic devices andother devices and equipment.

An object of this invention is to provide such a device which is easy touse and adjust and highly eflicient in its operation.

A further object of the invention is to provide such a device which maybe used in conjunction with an electric hoist, or the like, for raisingand lowering the device or apparatus supported thereby and locating saiddevice or apparatus in any desired position relatively to an object uponwhich it is used.

Further objects and advantages of our invention will be more clearlyunderstood from the following description and from the accompanyingdrawings in which:

Fig. l is a front view of a device embodying the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a side view thereof.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged view, in central vertical section, of the upperportion of said device.

Fig. 4 is a diagrammatic view of a limit switch, used in connection withmy invention, and the electric circuit controlled thereby.

As shown in the drawings, our improved device is mounted upon anoverhead track system which may include a pair of beams 5-5 that aremounted to a ceiling, indicated at 6, by suitable lugs 7-7 and a pair ofbridge beams 8-8 which are secured to suitable carriages 9-9 that aresuspended on the beams 5-5 by wheels 10-10 which roll lengthwise on thebottom flanges of the said beams 5-5.

Our improved device includes an upper platform 11 that is mounted on thebridge beams 8-8 by suitable wheels 12-12 which roll lengthwise of saidbeams on the bottom flanges thereof. The said platform has dependingfrom opposite sides thereof pairs of brackets 13-13 to each pair ofwhich there is adjustably secured an end of a lazy tong extendible outerunit 14 which consists of a system of jointed bars in which the freeends of the bars at the upper end of the said unit are pivotally andslidably mounted in slots 15 in each of the brackets 13. The saidplatform 11 also has opposed pairs of brackets 16-16 upon which aresimilarly mounted lazy tong extendable units 17-17 which are disposedbetween the units 14-14.

The said outer units 14-14 are secured together by means of crossbars 18which extend between the pivoted ends of their respective bars andstiffen the units against twisting movement. The units 17-17 aresimilarly connected by crossbars 19.

At the bottoms, or lower ends, of the said lazy tong units, there ismounted a lower platform 20 having upright brackets 21-21 and 22-22thereon which are secured to the ends of the units 14 and 17,respectively, in the same manner as the upper ends of the said units aresecured to the top platform 11.

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A yoke 23 depends from and is rotatably mounted upon the lower platformby means of a swivel post 24.

As shown in the drawings, an apparatus, such as an X-ray machine,indicated at 25, may be mounted upon the said device by means of asuitable bar 26 which is rotatable in the yoke 23 to allow angularadjustment of the said machine.

In order to raise and lower the said machine and also position it at anydesired height, our improved device is provided with an electrical hoist27 which is suspended from a supporting plate, or bar, 28 that issupported by vertical members 29-29 which are mounted upon the topplatform 11. The said hoist has a suitable cable 30 which extendsthrough a hole 31 in the top platform 11 and extends around a pulley 32that is. anchored to a bracket 33 which is secured to the lower platform20 and is adapted to raise said device to the position indicated indotted lines in Fig. 1.

In order to prevent the said device from lowering to a position beyondthe limit of the extendibility of the units 14 and 17, there ispreferably provided. a limit switch, indicated at 34, which may be ofthe mercury type. This switch may be mounted on a plate 35 which issecured upon a bar of one of the extendible units, indicated at 14-a,and is rotatably adjustable thereon so as to position the switchrelatively to the horizontal to cause shifting of the mercury thereof tobreak the electrical circuit when the device has been extended to apredetermined limit. As shown in Fig. 4, the said limit switch 34 isconnected in series with the electric motor 36 of the hoist and asuitable dual control switch in a control handle 37 which may be mountedupon the end of an electric cord 37-a depending from the hoist and whichis operable with different push-buttons 38 and 39 to cause energizationof the motor 36 for selectively operating the hoist to raise or lowerthe yoke 23 and the apparatus mounted thereon to any desired height.When the limit switch 34 is in closed position, the motor is controlledentirely by either of the switches 38 or 39. When the device has beenlowered to the limit of the extendible units, the said device limitswitch will be tipped off the horizontal so that the mercury will flowtoward one end of the tube and disconnect the two terminals thereof andthereby break the circuit and automatically de-energize the motor 36.

In the use of our improved device, the apparatus 25 may be raised orlowered to the required height, by simply operating the switches in thecontrol handle 37, and then rotated about the axis of the post 24 andshaft 26 to bring said apparatus into any desired position with relationto an object upon which it is to be used.

I claim:

A positioning and supporting device of the character describedcomprising an upper platform movably suspended from a track, bracketsdepending from said upper platform, a bottom platform, bracketsextending vertically from the top of said bottom platform, a pair ofextendible outer units comprising a plurality of pivotally jointed barsmovably secured to the brackets of the up per and lower platforms andinterconnected by crossbars, a separate pair of extendible inner unitssimilarly connected to the upper and lower platforms and containedwithin said outer pair of extendible units and their respectiveconnecting bars on vertical planes perpendicular to the planes of thesaid outer pair, an electric hoist mounted upon the upper platform,anchoring means upon the bottom of said upper platform, a pulley securedto the lower platform, a cable extending from said hoist, through anopening in the upper platform, around the said pulley and secured tosaid anchoring means, and

4 Blanchett Dec. 14, 1937 Miller May 15, 1951 Haumerson Jan. 6, 1953Sensenbaugh Jan. 13, 1953 FOREIGN PATENTS Great Britain Mar. 30, 1894Australia Feb. 19. 1951

